"Fool For You" has 18,000 plays on TikTok

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Fool For You (Live at Studio 333) could go viral! What??

I have never had anything like this happen to me before. I recently joined TikTok, and a few days ago, I uploaded a brand new mix of a song that I wrote called "Fool For You (Live at Studio 333)". I had this really beautiful video footage that Damian Apunte filmed years ago, of the band and I playing the song live at my friend's recording studio.

I didn't have a lot of money at the time of filming that video, and so I decided to try and mix the audio myself. Long story short, the audio didn't turn out all that great. Fast forward five or six years later. I sent the audio off to my friend Ryan Lipman, to mix. This was during the pandemic. I had lots of time on my hands, and it had always bugged me, that the audio wasn't as good as the video footage. Well, let me tell you: Ryan fixed that problem. He sent me a gorgeous mix for the song.

I then proceeded to forget about that mix.

That bring us to three days ago. 

I was looking through my hard drive, and I found this mix that Ryan Lipman did. I took the existing video footage I have, threw that into Adobe Premiere Pro (a video editing program), and added Ryan's audio mix to this footage. It looks (and now it sounds) beautiful.

Instilled with this new confidence in the song, I posted it on TikTok. Two days later, it has 18,000 plus views. My follower count suddenly explodes. People are asking where they can listen to the song. It's been incredible.

I decided to re-release the song. It's now live on Spotify and Apple Music: the new mix of the song. I also re-uploaded it to Youtube:

These are small victories.

The song hasn't gone viral. It's just received more attention than I am used to—from a younger demographic. I am not accustomed to that, I suppose? It most certainly isn't unwelcome. It warms my heart and lends to me feeling the furthest from being antiquated: relevant. Special even?

For a short period of time, it feels special. I feel special (just a little bit—forgive me for that if it is an ugly thing).

Who knows what the future holds? Perhaps the song will continue this upward trajectory. Then again, perhaps it won't, and perhaps it will fall into obscurity once again.

Regardless, I am thankful for the new ears and new hearts and new brains that have found this song.

I make music to connect with people, and it feels really lovely to connect with new people. People who I have never met in person.

In all honesty, I hope and dream that it continues to gain momentum. I texted my aunt Doreen yesterday, to share with her that it was exploding on this platform. I told her that I had my fingers crossed that it goes viral. She said, "I'll pray for it. It's more reliable." I used to tell Doreen that I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a little kid—or a professional baseball player. And whatever it was, she always supported me. She is supporting right now in prayers. Prayers that it will go viral.

I hope that it does this because it's a good song. I truly believe in this song. I always have—seeing the reaction I receive from people when I play it live.

Here is a link to check it out on TikTok:

Click this image to find “Fool For You (Live at Studio 333)” on your favorite streaming service. The new mix by Ryan Lipman is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music, and every other streaming service you can think of.

You can also click this link below to find it on your favorite platform of choice to listen to good vibes:

https://songwhip.com/mikevitale/fool-for-you-live-at-studio-333



Additionally, here is a link to my latest release from 2021. It is a Country and Americana inspired collection of songs. The album is called Φ. It is available on all the major streaming services by either clicking the album cover to the right, or the link below:

https://songwhip.com/mikevitale/phi

I am thankful to have you all in my lives.

I am thankful to be touring in October and November of this year.
(You can see all my show dates here: https://www.bandsintown.com/mikevitale

I am thankful for all the people who have been contributing to this tour on my GoFundMe. Every little bit helps, and I hope you have been enjoying my newest album, DESERT DOGS (which I send when you contribute to it), before it gets released next year on July 11th 2023: https://gofund.me/7876a2cd

May you all cross your fingers for me, or pray, or carry me in your thoughts. Whatever suits your demeanor and life outlook. May this song soar, even if just for a little while, over small mountain ranges. May it see a small bit of what the world has to offer, and connect me with more folks than my wildest imagination could ever fathom.

- Mike

FALL 2022 United States Tour

Re-Uploading "Latchkey Kid" for NPR's TINY DESK CONCERT SERIES

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Hey Everyone,

So, quickly: I had to resubmit my video for the Tiny Desk Concert Series because I upload it a few days before the March 12th start date, and they said that would disqualify the video.  

At any rate, if you could give the video some love, that would be greatly appreciated.  I had 31 likes on the last upload and a lot of comments and that was really neat, but I lost all that positivity because I have re-upload the video.  Here is what NPR wrote me today.  It was very nice of them to do this, and to not just disqualify the video I submitted:

Hi there,

My name is Marissa, and I work on the Tiny Desk Contest. I wanted to get in touch about a small problem we had with your Tiny Desk Contest entry.

While your video did follow most of our Official Rules – being under 10 minutes, showing an original song, featuring a desk (thanks!) – it looks like it didn’t meet one requirement for eligibility: being uploaded to YouTube after March 12, 2019.

The reason we have this “After March 12” rule is to make sure that people are sending us videos that are made specifically for this Contest – to ensure that, we check that videos were uploaded after we announced this year’s Contest.

However, I know that we hinted at the Contest coming back for 2019 a couple times on our site, in our newsletter and on social media over the past few months – and I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt and imagine that you filmed and uploaded your video in anticipation of the official announcement. If that’s the case, and you’d still like your video to be considered for the 2019 Contest, please consider re-uploading your video and resubmitting. Otherwise, we’ll have to consider your entry ineligible. Please note that we don’t usually allow this kind of resubmission – but this feels like a special situation.

Let me know if you have any questions or any problems with submitting.

Best, Marissa & the Tiny Desk Contest team

At any rate, that link above is for the brand new upload I just did.  I would be honored to have you show it some love if you have the inclination of the time!  It would mean a lot to me. 

Hope you all are having a great day!

Mike

Latchkey Kid (Live at Studio 333) PREVIEW and RELEASE SHOW TOMORROW!

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I’m very excited to be releasing a new live video next week on all my social media: Youtube, Facebook, and so forth. Here is a sample of it. It’s a song off of my self titled EP from 2014, called “Latchkey Kid.” We tracked this song live at Studio 333 in Cerritos, CA on January 17th 2019. It features Frank Reina on drums, Tom Bremer on guitar, and Paul Jones on bass. We are going to be celebrating the release of this video tomorrow night (FEB 27th 2019) in Long Beach at The Wine Bar on Ocean Ave. if you feel like coming out to support; music starts at 7pm. There is no cover; it’s a free show. I’m honored to have my friends Alyssandra Nighswonger, Honest Horse and Taylor Crawford joining me to share their beautiful music. We would be stoked to have you there, and I would adore the opportunity to see some friends in the area if it’s in the cards. Thank you to Monika Lightstone for making this video with me. You are amazing and I am thankful to have you as a friend. Thanks to Ryan Lipman for the lovely mix.

New Single "The Needle of the Human Race" on August 30th 2018

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My latest single "The Needle of the Human Race" will be available at all digital distribution locations on August 30th 2018.  You know the drill:  Spotify, Apple Music. iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Soundcloud, Bandcamp—all the places.

This was one of the first mixes I had completed from Patreon backers.  A special thank you to all of these people for whom of which this is all happening, because of you and your belief: Erik Gomez, Fernando Gallegos, Heather Renz, Amy Armitage, Austin, Bob Emerson, Bridget Mackiewicz, Carey Brown, Carson Fonseca, Fern Rouintree,  Brenda Matea, Ashley Thom, Jake, Janet Woodward, JayPee, John Sinambal, Joshua Jon Day, Judy and Jody Timmerman, Kelly McDonald, Lex, Matt Vitale, Megan Kaplinsky, Ron Feldman, Sarah Lim, The Luna Eclipse, Tim Grobaty, Yeggi Watts.

The song was mixed by Jon O'Brien at Music Box Studios in Fullerton, CA.  I recently had it mastered by Mark Chalecki and his amazing attention to detail that I admire a great deal.

A big thank you to all of my friends that played on this song.  Frank Reina on drums and Scott Dibble on Keys.  Most of all, thank you my friend Dave Gonzalez who played bass on this tune.  God bless him.  He passed away before having the opportunity to ever hear this song, completed—it breaks my heart to say that—it hurts even more to know that he is gone.  Then again, perhaps people such as Dave never really die, or are gone—they simply become music.  I will lean in that direction with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face.

A big thank you to my friend Ryan C Jones for the cover photo of this song.  If I remember correctly, he shot this photo on his phone.  You are such a gift Ryan and I am deeply appreciative of you, your talent, and your kindness. 

For anyone interested in Pre-Saving the song on Spotify, simply click the image above and it will put you in a place to do that.

Most of all, thank YOU (the person reading this) for finding interest in me and the music I'm making.  You validate my life and efforts.

New Single NO VACANCY released today!

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Hey Everyone,

I just released a new full band single today called "No Vacancy."

Here is a link to find the song on your favorite listening platform:

http://smarturl.it/tx0xoc

It is available everywhere.  You name it.  You can listen to it there.

 

For your convenience, you can also just visit my NEW SINGLE page here on this website:

https://mikevitalemusic.com/new-single/

You can also click the album cover and it will take you to a landing page for several of the popular haunts to listen to new music (i.e. Spotify, Apple Music, etc).

Thank you to Frank Reina, Brad Cummings, Tom Bremer, Scott Dibble, Ryan Lipman, and Mark Chalecki for making art with me.

THANK YOU to everyone on Patreon for your help in releasing this new material.  I mean this with all my heart:  I can't do it without you (I tried).  This is working: what we are dong together.  I am more prolific as an artist than I have been in years because of your financial help. I have been releasing something constant and consistent every month since May 2018, because of you.

I want to take a second to thank all of these individuals especially for their continued contributions and help:  Erik Gomez, Amy Armitage, Fernando Gallegos, Heather Renz, Brandi, Bob Emerson, Joshua Jon Day, Carey Brown, and Tim Grobaty.

If you like this song, thank you.  It came from my heart.  It is my life.

 

 

New Single NO VACANCY on Tuesday July 31st 2018

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Artwork by Joshua Jon Day and Mike Vitale

Artwork by Joshua Jon Day and Mike Vitale

I'd say I'm dropping new music—but it's more like a drip—from a broken water faucet. 

I'm releasing a new full band single called NO VACANCY on Tuesday July 31st 2018.  It will be available for streaming as well as digital purchase that day on all your favorite music streaming haunts: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Google Play, Youtube, Soundcloud, iHeartRadio, etc.  AND if you are a really amazing person who still buys music (bless your heart) you will be able to purchase it as well on iTunes, Bandcamp, Google Play, Amazon, and every other digital retail location that is known to man.

In all honesty, this is one of my favorite songs that I have written and produced with friends.  It turned out really lovely and I am so very thankful to have had such a wonderful cast of musicians who helped to flesh out the arrangement:  Frank Reina on drums, Brad Cummings on bass, Scott Dibble on rhodes piano, and Tom Bremer on electric guitar.  A song is only as good as the people you have playing on it and I am very fortunate to be surrounded by all these beasts of badassery.

The song was mixed by Ryan Lipman and mastered by Mark Chalecki.  Thank you guys for making this sound so beautiful and pristine.  I am in awe of your talent.

Artwork was done by myself and my friend Joshua Jon Day.  I took the photograph and he helped me fashion a fabulous album cover out of it.  I really find these old neon signs to be so beautiful.

I make no allusions of being a phenom when it comes to new releases.  I cross my fingers that songs will connect with people and they will share.  This song is no exception.  However, I do try to do my part to find avenues of exposure for songs such as this.  Spotify recently started a submission process for playlists on unreleased songs, and I submitted this tune for their consideration.  Keep your fingers crossed that the curators find something to like in this song and select it for many a playlist.

Most importantly, thank you to everyone on Patreon who helps me to release this new material.  I mean this with all my heart:  I can't do it without you (I tried).  This is working: what we are dong together.  I am more prolific as an artist than I have been in years because of your financial help.  I want to take a second to thank all of these individuals especially for their continued contributions and help:  Erik Gomez, Amy Armitage, Heather Renz, Brandi, Bob Emerson, Joshua Jon Day, Carey Brown, and Tim Grobaty.

My deep and sincere gratitude for letting me do what I love to do: make music and play it.

GONE now available on Spotify, Apple Music, and all Digital Retails Locations

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Today is the big day!  I have been working on releasing new music, that I produced myself, with the help of some very talented musician friends:  Frank Reina, Brad Cummings, Tom Bremer, and Anthony Castiglia.  Much of the audio was captured by either myself or Frank Reina.  The mix was done by Ryan Lipman and the mastering was handled by Mark Chalecki. Artwork is by Alper Yesiltas.

In all honesty, it has taken way too long to release this music.  On the flip side, I'm not exactly rolling in the dough, either.  Thanks to my friends on PATREON and to saving up their contributions, I was able to release this tune as well as prepare several more that I will hopefully be releasing in rapid succession (once a month) over the course of this year.  This is the first on many.

Here is a link to find several of the places where you can either purchase or stream this song:

We will be celebrating the release of this song on THURSDAY JUNE 14th at THE MINT in Los Angeles.  The show starts at 9:30PM.  My friend Marcus Von Rittberg will be performing a set at 9:30pm and I will be playing a set with Frank Reina on drums, Tom Bremer on electric guitar, and Paul Jones on bass at 10:30pm.  Tickets are available in advance for $10 here:  

June 14th 2018 - The Mint 6010 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA.  Music starts at 9:30PM.

Thank you to everyone for their kindness, love, and support.  I am deeply appreciative of the positive vibes and energy.

- Mike

Fool For You (Live at Studio-333) on Spotify and Apple Music

Thank you to everyone who has been so kind and encouraging and who have requested for this live Youtube video to be on streaming music sites such as Spotify and Apple Music.  I just uploaded the song today, so it should be available for streaming and purchase within the next few days on all major digital distribution outlets:

This video was WAY more work than I had originally anticipated.  I mixed this myself.  I know, it sounds simple.  It's not—not if you're a perfectionist.  I am a perfectionist.  Which doesn't mean I got it perfect; it means I begrudgingly stopped working on it and that I read two books on the subject and that I spent 2 months working on it obsessively and that I did about 46 mixes of it.  I will never be happy with what I did here, I fear (in the mixing department).

I AM thrilled about all the people who helped me to make this and I am thrilled that a song like this came out of me.  It is one of the most popular tunes I have ever written.

4th Street Productions in Long Beach filmed the video.  I can not thank you enough Damian.  You are truly an artist.  It was filmed live as we tracked the song live.

I am thrilled that I performed this with three other musicians who I feel are some of the best players on the planet:  Frank Reina. Brad Cummings, and Tom Bremer.  You guys are my musical brothers.  Also, thank you to Ryan Lipman for mastering this mix of mine.

MV-FFY.jpg

I am thrilled that Alfredo Cristinziano provided the cover art for this song.  Here it is.  You can find him on Instagram here:  @alfredoziano

A lot of his work is very sexy.  Be prepared for sexy.

Most of all, let me come around full circle and thank anyone and everyone for finding something to like in this and to those, who will, and are listening to it.

In so many way, you all remind me of a time where I would make something and then hope that my parents would proudly display it on the refrigerator.  I am so thankful for the magnet between your ears if you are proudly displaying it on your refrigerator right now.  God bless.

With Love,

Mike

 

 

Rereleasing Old New Things?

You know, there is nothing quite like rereleasing new old things with a new old name and then trying to act like they're new.  They're not—yet they are depending on who you are.  

While I'm sure that less than one percent of the total human population knows me, there is also 99.5% of a human population that doesn't even know I exist.  I'm targeting them, but I'm writing to you, the .05%.  Confusing?  Where are these percentages coming from?  Yeah, I confuse me too, and I have no idea—it's just math.  But, let's proceed anyway.  Just act like you understand this half-wit-crossed-eyed buffoon putting one word in front of another like they mean something.  He's got a good heart.  I promise.  Pat him on his head, give him a cookie, and he's back to typing.  Delicious cookie, by the way.

So, I made this video with my friends.  It was under the name The Hawkline Monster.  But, I went back to using my own name, Mike Vitale.  So, I had to re-upload it to my new old Youtube channel:  www.youtube.com/mikevitalemusic  

I took down the old video, which had a lot of views. I don't want to have two videos for the same thing. That's confusing—like this blog entry. So, I'm going to donate my old new Youtube Channel and its contents to science. Wait, Science just got back to me, and said, "we're good," so scratch that last sentence.

I'm following suit with all of my online streaming services as well.  This may take a week or two to fully happen.  I'll let you know when I get 'er done.

In the meanwhile, I appreciate your patience.  You can find anything and everything concerning me at Mike Vitale Music.  When I play by myself or with myself, I am Mike Vitale.  When I've got all my friends playing in the band with me, like this video above, we are Mike Vitale and The Hawkline Monster.  The cast of musicians playing with me in the studio and at live shows, is a revolving door or awesomeness and I am grateful for their immense talent and wonderful hearts.  Every song I write is only as good as the people playing them with me, and these guys are amazing.  My undying gratitude to them for our friendship and epic musical orgies.  I would compare us to the movie "Caligula," but I've never seen that movie, so it would be coming from a place of ignorance if I did—so I won't.

That's it for now.  Love you!

- Mike

Hotel Cafe on June 7th 2017

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I'm playing a full band show at The Hotel Cafe on Wednesday June 7th at 8pm. I've got Frank Reina and Brad Cummings as a rhythm section.  Damn.  These guys are fucking incredible.

The show is 21+ and it's $10 at the door.

Scott Mickelson is going to be in town from San Francisco, CA playing at 7pm.  He is a great singer songwriter and totally worth checking out.  Come early!

Advanced tickets are available by clicking the image to your left, or the link below:

https://www.hotelcafe.com/tickets/?s=events_view&id=6379

Patreon

I recently setup a Patreon account in the hopes of speeding up the process of releasing new music and new music videos.

Visit me on Patreon

Visit me on Patreon

I'm very grateful for friends, family, and fans who have been so kind as to be a part of this process thus far:

Ron Feldman, Bridget Mackiewicz, Fernando Gallegos, Heather Renz, Brenda Prisk Mattea, Carey Brown, Tim Grobaty, John Sinambal, Matt Vitale, Joshua Jon Day, Megan Kaplinsky, and Yeggi Kaela Watts.

While I realize that this sort of thing is not for everyone, I deeply appreciate the people who resonate with the idea of participating in something like this.

I've been trying, with very little success, to release music on a consistent basis paying professionals to do quality work in the fields that they are good at.  

As a singer/songwriter, I am required to juggle a great deal of tasks, and if I were to be completely honest, it takes a toll on me over time.  It is very stressful and strenuous work being your own booking agent, manager, band organizer, graphic artist, mixing engineer, recording engineer, marketing person, show organizer, etc., while also trying to do the very thing that all the other stuff I just listed is in support of:  write and perform songs, with a band or just solo acoustic.

I have been very fortunate to have artistic friends who have been kind enough to help in any way that they can, from time to time, but at the end of the day, things happen faster and move much more quickly when people are being paid for what they are good at.

I've tried my hand at several different fields within the realm of music, partially out of interest, and also, mainly out of necessity.  For example, I mixed the audio for the video below.  It took me roughly two and a half months.  I read some books.  Did some studying.  Made about 49 mixes of this song (approximately).  Treated my room for recording and mixing.  I had fun doing it to begin with, but it became more difficult, the more time I spent working on it.  During those two and half months, I wasn't writing songs or successfully maintaining the other aspects of doing music business related stuff listed above; I was concentrating on mixing this song.  I became exhausted and depressed after about one month of work on it.  I kept chugging along though.  I took several breaks because it became difficult to have a good objective outlook on the work I had put into mixing the song:

However it turned out, I worked very hard on this, and did the best I could.  However, in the process, I realized that I can't do everything by myself.  I need help.  That is why I am writing this: to ask you for help.  If I have a budget to work with, I can reduce my work load by hiring professionals, and effectively, create more quality art.  Ideally, I hope that I can focus on that, mainly.  This is my goal.  In the meanwhile, I appreciate your attention on the art that is being made, and hope that if you find yourself in a place to pledge even a small amount of money, you would have my sincere and deep gratitude.  Here is a link where you can learn more about how you can help:

http://www.patreon.com/mikevitalemusic